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The Mountains of Pi 18 years ago

Incredibly good read.

  He pointed to a gauge that had a dial on it. “Here we have a meat thermometer.” 

  The brothers had thrust the thermometer between two circuit boards in order to 
  look for hot spots inside m zero. The thermometer’s dial was marked “Beef Rare—
  Ham—Beef Med— Pork.”

  “You want to keep the machine below ‘Pork,’ ” Gregory remarked.

Doesn't this qualify as blog spam? From guidelines: "Please submit the original source. If a blog post reports on something they found on another site, submit the latter. "

>> Take regular typing breaks. If you can, take some time off and don't even look at a computer for as long as possible.

GNOME has a feature that'll lock the screen every certain number of minutes for a certain number of minutes, and only way to get out of the lock is to ctrl-alt-backspace. Nice if you are having a hard time breaking away from your computer. (System > Prefs > Keyboard > Typing Break)

There are tons of still good domains out there. Problem is, those filthy domain squatters (networksolutions, etc) have already registered them and demand $500+ for them! It is ridiculous that such practices are legal.

What's even cooler is his house. It's on an island off New Hampshire, which he claims is it's own nation, separated from the United States (he made a peace treaty with Bush Sr!) It is a huge mansion in the shape of a hexagon, with loads of secret passages and stuff. The first thing you see when you enter is a huge stirling engine (working). It has its own army (the local police force uses his baseball fields), and currency, which is measured in increments of pi. His company (DEKA) builds him intricate presents each year, two years ago they made him a chess player (mechanical)... (added this stuff the the wiki [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Kamen#Personal_life] a while ago).

He also founded FIRST, a robotics competition for high schoolers. I recommend anyone with mechanical experience (includes C programming) to find a local team and join in. They are always looking for adult mentors; www.firstwiki.net

"SPLIT YOUR LUNGS WITH BLOOD AND THUNDER! When you see the white whale! Break your backs and crack your oars, men! If you wish to prevail! This ivory leg is what propels me! Thrust your harpoons to the sky, Aim directly at his crooked brow, And look him straight in the eye! WHITE WHALE-- HOLY GRAIL!"

I took this quote to heart when I first read (guess what book) and it seems to apply to nearly every situation I've been in, somehow.